I graduated from USC in 2007. I'm a Trojan fan 11 out of 12 weeks on that schedule. I'm an ND fan for all 12 of those games.

Notre Dame brought my family to this country when a professor sponsored my dad's green card so he can do his post-doc research here. The school paid for everything to just give my dad a chance at a better life.

I got a great education from USC and respect both schools tremendously - but even my allegiance to SC in the form of a diploma cannot parallel the profound gratitude my family has for Notre Dame. This is always a tough week for me personally because it's hard rooting against your alma mater.

But then I think about playing cricket barefoot in the streets of Calcutta and it's pretty clear that I wouldn't have even had a chance at SC if not for ND.